Ensure primary education

The ruling Nepali Congress (NC) has undertaken the challenging task of providing free and compulsory education to all children below 13 years of age.

This no doubt is an attempt to ensure every child’s basic right to education. These efforts notwithstanding, the pledge to ensure the universal right to education has remained a mere ruling party political slogan. As a result one-third of elementary school-age children across the country remain deprived of formal education. For instance, out of 100 children only a few manage to complete secondary level education, especially in rural areas. The reason for this unfortunate state of affairs is that compulsory primary education has never been seriously implemented. The government allocates 15 percent of the budget for the education sector. In the Eighth Plan, the government introduced a primary education project in Ilam, Chitwan, Mahendranagar, Syangja and Surkhet districts, with the help of international donor agencies including the World Bank. Had the project been successfully implemented, the Ninth Plan would have extended it to 25 different districts.

Unfortunately, the donor agencies refused to help with the budget after the government adopted a cost saving approach rather than focusing on the desired objective. The fact was the government depended on foreign donors instead of allocating an adequate budget to extend the programme. This immature working strategy was reflected in the way the government undertook the primary education programme.

A few years ago, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Central Department of Population Studies (CDPS) conducted a survey which concluded that of the total 6.2 million children in the country, 2.23 million did not go to school. Of them, 36 percent are involved either in economic or non-economic activities. There are children who do not attend school but are engaged in household activities. The number of such children is especially high among girls. A large number of children between 5-14 years work not in organized but in local unorganized settings, often helping their parents. This is one of the reasons that most out-of-school children are not freed up by their parents to attend school. Moreover, in most cases children are not sent to school until they reach ten years of age.

Failure to ensure the basic right of children to education shows that the government has neither done enough work on it nor has it taken it seriously. Can the government ignore those children who are deprived of compulsory primary education? The government has no option but to allocate an adequate budget and make available books and other educational materials, if it really intends to ensure free and primary education for all.

Prospects of tourism in Nepal

By Samba Dev Pant

Tourism in Nepal has not grown as rapidly as in some neighbouring destinations, reflecting Nepal’s status as a special destination with particular attractions. The main attractions in Nepal are: cultural heritage in Kathmandu valley, the Himalayas, wildlife in a jungle setting, trekking both on well established routes and in more remote areas, major religious sites for pilgrims.

Future potentials: The future of the Nepalese tourist industry depends on success in two critical factors: in controlling the negative aspects like bandhs and hartals and in promoting Nepal as a tourist destination. As a land of immense attractions, Nepal has great potential as a prime tourist destination. But this potential remains underutilized. Scenic beauty and the cultural features of the country hold the key to raising the potential of the tourism industry in the country. While this potential needs to be fully realized, concerted effort is needed to counter the negative aspects of tourism. The challenge now and in the future is to deal with the existing problems of tourism and to capitalize on the country’s potential.

At present, tourism occupies the second largest area in world trade, next only to oil. It is, moreover, one of the fastest growing sectors of economic activity. In most countries including Nepal,
tourism has grown since the late 1970’s from being a marginal aspect of national economic life to an important socio-economic asset.

The amount of money spent is a more reliable indicator of the level of international tourist activity that Nepal experiences than travel statistics. Statistics published by the World Tourism Organization indicate that international tourism receipts have increased almost eleven-fold since 1972. International tourism receipts are the receipts of countries in the form of consumption expenditure - payments for goods and services made by foreign tourists out of foreign currency resources. Our study indicates that Nepal’s tourism receipts have increased over fifty-fold since 1974-75.

Eco-tourism: A significant recent phenomenon in the tourism industry is "eco-tourism" or "nature tourism" which is gaining importance rapidly in a number of countries. There is a growing awareness worldwide that unspoiled nature, and from the point of view of the tourist, "exotic" ecosystems have a real economic value. Most of these tourist assets are still very under-priced. Many studies indicate that tourists are willing to pay more if they know that the extra money will be used to help protect the special features that they have come to see. In Nepal, six out of ten trekkers in the Annapurna area said they would pay US $ 5 to US $ 10 more than the current government fees, if they knew the money would be used in programmes to conserve the area.

In Nepal, "nature tourism" is the leading foreign exchange earner as visitors are attracted primarily by the Himalayan geography. Culture industry experts assert that the tourist’s demand should be given top priority. General tourism, currently growing at 4 percent annually, will continue to expand as population, leisure and discretionary income levels increase, while the real cost of travel decreases. Nature tourism and other forms of specialized tourism are expected to grow faster than general tourism as people become more environment conscious.

Recent figures on tourism arrivals in Nepal show that there has been a decline of about 12 percent compared to the same period last year. This is quite an alarming signal. We feel that something must be done to address the problem.

Contrary to the expectations of tourism entrepreneurs that the tourism industry would see further growth in October, tourist arrivals by air fell more than 13 percent that month. The reasons cited for this decline are: political instability and deteriorating environment in the Kathmandu valley. The government should resolve these problems at the earliest.

Recommendations: It is recommended that in future Nepal should seek to raise foreign exchange earnings by raising the price of the Nepalese tourism product in real terms, extending the stay of the sightseeing visitors, and increasing the opportunities which the tourists have for spending..

Nepal should target an increase to 950,000 tourists in 2010. The aim should be to increase the number of tourists from countries such as Japan, and to lengthen their stay in Nepal. If the targets are to be achieved, considerable investment in marketing and product development is needed. To date, tourists have come to Nepal as a result of their own interest in the country and in the Himalayas. For tourism to continue growing, it will require a
more vigorous and determined marketing effort.

Pattern of development: Tourism since its infancy in Nepal has been concentrated on the Kathmandu Valley. Trekking has led to the dispersal of tourists, but the proportion of tourists going to Pokhara has remained at around 20 percent of the total for the last three decades. Even trekking is concentrated in three areas: Annapurna, Langtang, and Khumbu. There are great opportunities for widening the spread of tourists in Nepal. These depend on improvements in transport including domestic air services. Flights must be made more reliable and easier to book.

Nepal has one of the world’s most ancient and richest civilizations against the setting of awesome natural beauty. The country’s culture finds expression in a wide variety of forms - religion, art, music, dance and social and religious festivals. There are thousands of temples, shrines and pagodas with intricate woodcarvings and exquisite stone and bronze images. Culturally, Nepal’s attractions are legendary. We have always attracted Indian tourists who want to come here for a darshan of Pashupatinath. The largest number of tourists entering Nepal are from India.

The public sector needs to be involved in tourism, and in recent years there has been improved liaison between the public and private sectors in Nepal. However, drastic changes to the existing organization of tourism is needed if our targets are to be met.

Nation with bleak future

By Sunil Narayan Shrestha

Everyday we sit in the college canteen and discuss what’s happening around us. After about an hour’s discussion, everybody seems to come to the same conclusion, ‘Nepal has no future’. Nepal does have a future but not a bright future. Even though this sounds quite pessimistic, one can hardly find a reason for optimism. Having been students, the so-called ‘future’ of the nation, we ourselves claim that Nepal has no future. How can a country rest when the country itself is on a dark path. Be it the economic sector, the social sector or the educational sector, things have worsened.

Beginning with the economic sector, the economic liberalization policy of the government has proved unsuccessful if not a failure. The Nepalese money market is full of liquidity, searching for investment opportunity. The interest rates have been falling. Despite superfluous claims of the government of positive investment, the fact is that Nepal is not a good bet for investors. Several industries have closed down, the textile industry foremost among them. Cheap Indian and Chinese imports have dominated the Nepalese market. There is no incentive for investors, in fact only a risk over returns on their investment. What we can see is that slowly they are diverting their resources towards investment in fixed assets, which of course is not a good sign. Without investment, which is a necessary condition for economic development, we can conclude that Nepal has no future.

Recent statistics claim that our per capita income has increased to $250 per annum. This means that we have grown richer by about $40 in comparison to the last decade. But the question is have we really become richer? The best way to find out is by comparing what we were able to buy with $210 in the last decade with what we can buy with the increased income now. Certainly our purchasing power has gone down. Prices of almost everything have gone up. With the passage of time, it is natural for prices to go up. But price increase without an equal increase in the general income level is not justifiable. And who are the beneficiaries? The middlemen and the traders. The ultimate customers are still paying the same price while the farmers are suffering from low prices. With high prices and low income, Nepal has no future.

The trend in our country is that the success of the Finance Minister is assessed by the amount of foreign aid he (till now there is no female FM) has been able to bring into the country. Nobody cares how or on what conditions foreign aid is brought in. But what really brings in aid is compromise with our national interests, resulting in a guaranteed price rise. In a period of less than a decade, the electricity tariff has gone up more than two times, with the same going to happen with water charges in the near future. Thanks to the donors. With the continuous inflow of such conditional aid, Nepal has no future.

Violence has never been a part of this peace loving country. But see what is happening now. Every day we hear news about clashes between the police and the Maoists. The number of dead and injured in such clashes is ever increasing. Religious conflicts have started to begin in some parts of the nation. And a few weeks back violence was unleashed in the educational sector. The clash between students and transport entrepreneurs took such a form that the two industrial centres of the country had to remain closed for more than 3 days. As if this was not enough, the ‘Hrithik Roshan’ episode took place in the capital, terrorizing the people. The situation was never so tense in the country after the movement for restoration of democracy. No doubt, the law and order situation has deteriorated. In fact most of the people have started to think that there is no law and order. Democracy does mean freedom, but within the framework of a constitution. And then we have the Home Minister, who does a great job, announcing that the government is ready for talks. If somebody could please tell him the simple basics of "prevention is better than cure". Without proper law and order Nepal has no future.

The list can go on and on. It can be denied that today’s youth are the country’s future. But guess what is happening with the youth? Seeing the disastrous situation of the country everybody has started to run away from the country. The long queue for visas at the US and British embassies show the intention of the youth. It is not uncommon for them to think about settling abroad, when they see that the country has no future.

On the other hand, the country has no future because it will run short of educated qualified human resources, as most of them have started settling abroad. The situation is much worse than what is stated here. Together we must do something to make our as well as our country’s future bright and prosperous.

Will dispute in NC be resolved after general convention ?

The Kathmandu Post and Mercantile Communications conducted a survey on the topic: "Will the dispute in the Nepali Congress be resolved after this week’s general convention in Pokhara?" The survey was done on the Net last week. Of the 515 respondents, 85% (432) said "No", 13.3% (75) said "Yes" and 1.7% (8) said "Don’t Know."

We regret the inconvenience, if any, on account of original names being kept back by some respondents.

The Nepali Congress party (NC) should be divided to resolve intra-party squabbles once and for all. But this is not possible so long as Girija Koirala and KP Bhattarai are alive. NC is presenting itself as a flock of culprits of more or less same vested interests. NC party has not listed its long-term policies and targets to govern the nation towards prosperity. Deuba, who is busy bargaining for power in the party is also not interested in making long -term policies. The tussle between Koirala and Deuba is not for ideology but for the coveted post of party president. Although Koirala has failed to govern the country, he has a tremendous influence over his party, especially at the grass root level. That is why Deuba is having a problem to establish himself as a popular leader. - KP

Nepali Congress (NC) has served as the saviour of monarchy and democracy in Nepal. Unfortunately, NC has had to face power struggle from the day of its birth between various factions within the party. KP Bhattarai is more or less responsible for today’s situation. Had he acted boldly and fairly during his presidential tenure , and had not hesitated to throw a rejoinder at the late Ganesh Man Singh’s objection at Kalbalgudi Convention, the present crisis would have never come. NC was a socialist democratic party. But today "socialist democratic" shadowed by "family". The champion and devoted leaders of historic party NC should not waste their time in self motivated infighting, but should be united to expose double- faced sycophant leaders. Otherwise, there is no meaning of its existence. - Balmukund Prasad Joshi

All corrupt and incompetent politicians must be hung as all of them are just engrossed with their selfish interests. This dispute of NC will calm down but for a while after the Pokhara Convention.
But it will soon come back with a big bang. - Shraddha

The ongoing dispute within NC will not be resolved after its 10th Convention. Theoretically, its so-called young leaders may say something or the other, but in practice, there won’t be any solution to the intra-party disputes. In case of NC, conflict is its inherited trait. It will be better if we recall here the clash between the late BP Koirala and Matrika Koirala. The internal exercise in any party- be it NC or Communist- should be aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of the people. Unfortunately, all the energy and wealth is being wasted on "power chairs." - Surendra Devkota

Conflicts within a party exist everywhere. But the division of Nepali congress will not be good for the country since too many small parties means an unstable government. The current struggle is for the chair. The dissidents can have differences over the party’s policies, but not for power equation. Pokhara convention brings some light in this aspect. Deuba should try to make his own mark by proposing novel and effective policies. - Cyber Gyan

As long as the old and senile leaders continue to occupy chairs, the dispute will never end, The old whose brain cells are full of worms, the results of years and years of corrupt practices. - Demachi

The wrangling within NC will never end unless some crucial steps are taken within the party. The old big leaders must retire gracefully and hand over the reins of leadership to the younger generation. Otherwise, the party will remain as a market for buying and selling of its members and lawmakers. Moreover, the 10th Convention had been a gala even for horse-trading. Habits die hard. So it is impossible to cure the corrupt and imbecile leaders.- R Shrestha

Today KP Bhattarai, Girija Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba are recognised as big leaders. But what about their background and their ethical history? We have felt how KP is getting mad for not getting into power. He won the 1999 election. But how? It is an open secret how he was elected from Parsa and Mr Shrivastav helped him. Of Deuba, the term corruption is attached permanently. And Girija, the worst of the lot, was the one who is notorious for his corruption scandals and no-confidence motion in the mid-nineties. - Shrestha

This is the last chance for Nepali Congress party. People hope more from the Pokhara convention. If it turn out to be the same as in previous years, it will be only too bad. But I believe it will only concentrate on the distribution of power.- Ramhari Poudyal